Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Poor quality of life making us shorter, just like in N.Korea

In the debates, John McCain cited the fact that North Koreans are 2 inches shorter than South Koreans as proof of the vileness of that regime. McCain overlooked one important fact: Americans are 2 inches shorter than Europeans due to a lower standard of living, poor health care, and inadequate nutrition. According to Tara Parker of the New York Times:

"While the conditions for North Koreans are troubling, Americans have a similar height gap to worry about, and it also appears to be due to a lower standard of living, poor health care and inadequate nutrition. Last summer, the journal Social Science Quarterly reported that Americans are, quite literally, falling short of Europeans. In 1880, Americans were the tallest people in the world. But by 2000, American men, at an average height of 5-feet-10.5-inches, ranked 9th, and women, at about 5-feet-5-inches, fell to 15th. Several Northern European countries rank the highest in height, with the Dutch coming in first, at just over 6 feet for the men and 5-feet-7-inches for the women."

No comments: